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SL-1 Film photograph collection

 Collection
Identifier: P2103

Scope and Contents

The SL-1 Film photograph collection consists of 1 box containing 162 black-and-white photographs depicting the 1961 meltdown of a reactor at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho. The photographs were primarily created by the United States government and were acquired by Orr and Roberts for use in their film through Freedom of Information Requests in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Dates

  • 1961-1984

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the SL-1 Film photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator.

Biographical Note

Diane Orr is a documentary filmmaker and photographer whose films have explored subjects including Idaho’s 1961 SL-1 nuclear reactor accident, the 1976 Teton Dam disaster, the disappearance of Everett Ruess, and the 1973 standoff at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Several of Orr's films document the culture and history of the American West and the issues facing Native Americans. Her photography highlights Western landscapes and rock art (pictographs and petroglyphs). C. Larry Roberts collaborated with Orr on several works. In the 1970s he was a producer for KUTV’s news magazine, EXTRA . He taught filmmaking at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the California Institute of the Arts, and San Francisco State University and served as artist-in-residence at the Utah Media Arts Center. Roberts died on July 26, 1988.

In 1979, Orr and Roberts began collaboration on SL-1 , a documentary film about the January 3, 1961 meltdown of the Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One at the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS) located west of Idaho Falls, Idaho. The meltdown killed three people and led to the exposure of approximately 790 individuals to dangerous levels of radiation. Drawing from government documents, photographs, and film obtained through a Freedom of Information inquiry, Roberts and Orr reconstructed the accident and its causes. SL-1 was released in 1983. It won the Josef von Sternberg Prize at the International Film Week festival in Mannheim, Germany and was aired on New York public television station WNET.

Extent

162 Items (1 box)

Abstract

SL-1 is a 1983 documentary film by Utah filmmakers Diane Orr and C. Larry Roberts investigating the January 3, 1961 meltdown of a nuclear reactor at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho. This collection contains black-and-white photographs of the event collected by Orr and Roberts during the course of their research for the film.

Arrangement

Arranged by subject

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Dianne Orr in 2015.

Related Materials

This collection forms part of the Utah Independent Film Archive.

Separated Materials

See also the SL-1 Film records (ACCN 2895) in the Manuscripts Division of Special Collections.

Processing Information

Processed by Special Collections staff.

Creator

Title
Guide to the SL-1 Film photograph collection, 1961-1984
Author
Finding aid created by Claire A. Kempa
Date
2022
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid encoded in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863